Technical Writer

Dolores Mae Hammond Ali, a retired Social Security Administration technical writer, died of cancer Friday at her Randallstown home. She was 75. Born Dolores Mae Hammond in Baltimore, she was raised on Presstman Street in West Baltimore and was a graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. She attended Morgan State University and American University in Washington. Family members said she was among the first African-American employees hired at the Motor Vehicle Administration at its former Guilford Avenue headquarters.

Baltimore's continually blossoming theater scene has another bud. Cohesion Theatre Company , to be based in the Highlandtown Arts and Culture District, will debut in November with a production of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus. " (Given the arrival of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, the Bard appears to be on a roll this season in Baltimore.) The Cohesion ensemble also plans to stage two Baltimore premieres: Tom Horan's "Thirteen Dead Husbands" in March, Anna Moench's "The Pillow Book" next summer.

Albert J. Schramm, a retired technical writer who had founded Albert Schramm & Associates, died Dec. 16 of cancer at Howard County General Hospital. The Howard County resident was 68. The son of the superintendent of the Baltimore Maritime Exchange and a PBX operator, Albert Joseph Schramm was born in Baltimore and raised in Edmondson Village. After graduating in 1961 from Mergenthaler Vocational High School, he enlisted in the Army, where he attained the rank of sergeant and served in intelligence in Germany.

Dolores Mae Hammond Ali, a retired Social Security Administration technical writer, died of cancer Friday at her Randallstown home. She was 75. Born Dolores Mae Hammond in Baltimore, she was raised on Presstman Street in West Baltimore and was a graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. She attended Morgan State University and American University in Washington. Family members said she was among the first African-American employees hired at the Motor Vehicle Administration at its former Guilford Avenue headquarters.

George Benedict Franz, a retired technical writer and an amateur photographer, died Monday of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. He was 86 and lived in Overlea. A technical writer for the old Glenn L. Martin Co. aircraft manufacturer, he joined the National Security Agency in 1964 and retired in 1979. His parents gave the Baltimore native his first Kodak Brownie camera when he was 10. He started taking pictures of his family, then photographed the Panama Canal when he served in the Army in the 1930s.

The memories are usually fuzzy, clouded by decades of other diversions or simply by the fact that, even back then, you'd already forgotten by the next day that you'd played. Once thought to be the beer pong of its time, foosball is now more hardcore than fraternity chic, more a competitive sport than simply a reason to hoist a few. For those who play the game professionally, it is their life, if not quite their livelihood. For those looking to rediscover the game, this is not your father's (or mother's)

Baltimore's continually blossoming theater scene has another bud. Cohesion Theatre Company , to be based in the Highlandtown Arts and Culture District, will debut in November with a production of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus. " (Given the arrival of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, the Bard appears to be on a roll this season in Baltimore.) The Cohesion ensemble also plans to stage two Baltimore premieres: Tom Horan's "Thirteen Dead Husbands" in March, Anna Moench's "The Pillow Book" next summer.

About three weeks ago I phoned the suburban car dealer where I've bought a new model every four years, gave my name and asked the price of a new car. (I won't mention the dealer's name or brand.) The salesman pleasantly answered my question and we hung up. Considering sluggish auto business these days, I often wonder why he never called back to ask me to visit the showroom (I have all my repairs done there), show me the new model, take me for a ride, quote a trade-in, etc. (No sales calls from auto dealers now, please, although I welcome readers' comments about what seems to be widespread sales indifference these days.

On the steamy second floor of Adrian's Book Cafe, strangers fan themselves and talk aimlessly about the unexpected burst of summer heat. It's all small talk, subterfuge really, for what's truly on their minds. Those gathered here - from the clean-cut Catonsville couple to the ribald divorcee - harbor one unyielding thought: Sex.Before the night ends, they will speak of it. The secret urgencies and cries of love, rain-swept sheets and ripening fruit. The great beast within? It will come out, in conversation at least, and the unleashing will make them laugh and fidget, stare dreamily at the ceiling tile and applaud - out of relief and satisfaction - when it's over.

Soaring, joyous music filled New Shiloh Baptist Church yesterday for the funeral of Nathan M. Carter Jr. -- much as he had planned it. The Morgan State University Choir that he molded, directed and loved for 34 years brought the congregation to its feet, singing and clapping with their first hymn, "Rise, Shine, Give God the Glory." Nathan Carter died Thursday of pancreatic cancer at age 68 after a prolonged illness. He had made the Morgan choir an internationally renowned and award-winning organization.

The memories are usually fuzzy, clouded by decades of other diversions or simply by the fact that, even back then, you'd already forgotten by the next day that you'd played. Once thought to be the beer pong of its time, foosball is now more hardcore than fraternity chic, more a competitive sport than simply a reason to hoist a few. For those who play the game professionally, it is their life, if not quite their livelihood. For those looking to rediscover the game, this is not your father's (or mother's)

Albert J. Schramm, a retired technical writer who had founded Albert Schramm & Associates, died Dec. 16 of cancer at Howard County General Hospital. The Howard County resident was 68. The son of the superintendent of the Baltimore Maritime Exchange and a PBX operator, Albert Joseph Schramm was born in Baltimore and raised in Edmondson Village. After graduating in 1961 from Mergenthaler Vocational High School, he enlisted in the Army, where he attained the rank of sergeant and served in intelligence in Germany.

George Benedict Franz, a retired technical writer and an amateur photographer, died Monday of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. He was 86 and lived in Overlea. A technical writer for the old Glenn L. Martin Co. aircraft manufacturer, he joined the National Security Agency in 1964 and retired in 1979. His parents gave the Baltimore native his first Kodak Brownie camera when he was 10. He started taking pictures of his family, then photographed the Panama Canal when he served in the Army in the 1930s.

About three weeks ago I phoned the suburban car dealer where I've bought a new model every four years, gave my name and asked the price of a new car. (I won't mention the dealer's name or brand.) The salesman pleasantly answered my question and we hung up. Considering sluggish auto business these days, I often wonder why he never called back to ask me to visit the showroom (I have all my repairs done there), show me the new model, take me for a ride, quote a trade-in, etc. (No sales calls from auto dealers now, please, although I welcome readers' comments about what seems to be widespread sales indifference these days.

Gray Johnson Poole, a journalist and author of books for youth, died Aug. 21 of natural causes at the Kensington Episcopal Home in Alhambra, Calif., where she lived. She was 98. Born Elizabeth Gray Johnson in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Poole preferred to use her middle name. She attended the Johns Hopkins University for three years before leaving school to care for her ailing father. Mrs. Poole was a writer since childhood and published her first short story when she was 11. In the 1930s and 1940s, Mrs. Poole was a reporter and society editor for The Evening Sun. In 1941, she married Lynn Poole, who served as Johns Hopkins' first director of public relations from 1946 to 1966 and developed one of television's first educational programs.

The Susquehanna Workforce Network will be hosting a defense, technology and intelligence job fair at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen Feb. 28, from 2 to 6 p.m. This is a major workforce recruitment activity for more than 30 companies looking to fill positions. A sample listing of the position openings include acquisition professionals, software and systems engineer, program analyst, product manager, bio-medical scientist, liaison officer, configuration managers, system integrator, software developer, multi-media assistants, project manager, proposal manager, acquisition analyst, electrical and mechanical engineers, business development, SharePoint developer, signal support, air traffic controller, Java developer, scientists and technical writer.